(Morton Grove, Illinois – July 24, 2012)
The tragic death of a Skokie, IL man, crossing Chicago Metra commuter passenger railroad tracks after work July 17, was made even more horrible when it was learned that both his fiancée and his best friend, who were waiting for him on the opposite station platform to give him a ride home after work, witnessed the fatal accident.
Danny You, 38, of Skokie, IL, had purchased a wedding license the morning before he was killed and was planning on taking time off work from the Morton Grove-based moving company where both he and his best friend and roommate, Michael Slattery, worked.
Slattery said the couple was going to get married the next day at the Cook County Court House, and that he planned to surprise his intended wife with a honeymoon trip to Hawaii.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled You’s death an accident Monday.
Since the victim, a graduate of Ball State University, had grown up and had family in Indiana, Darin Hanley of the Bubb Funeral Chapel in South Bend, IN had sent a representative to Skokie to pick up both the body and some clothes for him.
“The guy said she (You’s fiancée) was distraught and beside herself because she witnessed the whole thing,” said Hanley. “I can’t imagine what she went through.”
In a statement of sympathy for the family, Hanley lamented “They were planning a wedding and now they’re planning a funeral.”